ICE Tear-Gassed and Jailed a U.S. Combat Veteran While Falsely Accusing Him of Being an Immigrant

George Retes woke up on July 10, 2025, hoping for a fresh start. A 25-year-old Army combat veteran and father, Retes had just switched to a daytime shift at a legal cannabis farm in Ventura County, California, eager to spend more time with his kids. But his routine drive to work that morning turned into a nightmare.

As Retes approached the farm, he found chaos: cars blocking roads, drivers abandoning vehicles, and a heavy presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents amid protests. This was part of President Donald Trump’s aggressive mass deportation campaign, which by mid-2025 had escalated to workplace raids targeting thousands daily across Southern California. The crackdown sparked widespread panic and unrest, prompting Trump to deploy 4,000 National Guard troops to suppress protests in Los Angeles.

Despite the turmoil, Retes pressed on, needing to keep his job and support his family. When ICE agents blocked his path, he identified himself as a U.S. citizen and asked for a badge number to explain his late arrival to his employer. Instead of listening, the agents shouted orders, contradicted each other, and escalated the situation. Retes tried to comply, but as he reversed his car to get out of the way, agents tear-gassed the crowd behind him, engulfing his vehicle.

Trapped and blinded by the gas, Retes was unable to leave. Agents then smashed his car window, pepper-sprayed him, and dragged him out. Despite his pleas that he couldn’t breathe, officers knelt on his back and neck, using excessive force. He was zip-tied and held in the dirt for four hours with minimal attempts to verify his identity — even though his disabled veteran license plate and citizenship were obvious.

Retes’s ordeal is not an isolated incident. A November 2025 Cato Institute report revealed that about 75% of ICE detainees have no criminal record, and many are law-abiding residents. ProPublica has documented at least 170 U.S. citizens wrongly detained by immigration agents during these raids, a number likely far higher. These cases expose how Trump’s deportation drive relies on racial profiling and reckless enforcement, tearing apart families and violating civil rights.

The Department of Homeland Security claims its raids target only the “worst of the worst” criminals, but stories like Retes’s reveal a brutal reality: innocent Americans are caught in the crossfire of an authoritarian crackdown that prioritizes mass arrests over justice. Retes’s experience lays bare the human cost of this policy — a combat veteran, a father, and a citizen treated like a criminal, gasped for air under the knee of agents sworn to protect.

This is the Trump administration’s legacy: weaponizing immigration enforcement to sow fear, chaos, and injustice — even against its own citizens. We owe it to people like George Retes to shine a light on these abuses and demand accountability now.